William kenyon



@[nitrh glam jz iatrnt @ffirti WILLIAM KENYON, Jl'l., OF STEUBENVILLE,OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND HENRY K. KENYON.

Letters Patent No. 74,697, dated February 18, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIPE-TONGS;

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN;

Be it known that I, WILLIAM KENYON, din, of Steuhenville, in the count-yof Jefferson, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Pipe-Tongs; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, cleanand exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, making a part of this specification, in whichv iFigures 1, 2, and 3 are side views of my improved pipe-tongs, andillustrative of their operation in griping pipe of different diameters;and l i Etigure is a perspective view of the same.

like letters of reference indicate like parts in each. I

My invention consists in constructinga pipe-wrench or gas-tongs of aswinging head or jaw, having two operative faces forming about a rightangle at their point of union, in combination with a ,cam-head at theextremity of the handle of the wrench, of such eccentric shape, and sopivoted tothe jaw (or the jaw toit) as that the wrench will grasppipescor cylinders of different diameters, and i that the point ofcontact of the' cam with the article grasped shall be in or near a rightline passing from the pivot of the cam-head to the angle of thefaces ofthe jaw, and through the centre of the cylinder, no matter what may bethe diameter of the cylinder held in the tongs. t

To enable others skilled in the art to construct my improved pipe-tongs,I will proceed to explain my invention more fully with reference totheaccompanying drawings. i

The use of a hooked jaw, attached by a pivot to a wrench having'astraight or even slightly curved face,

is a-well-known device in the construction'of pipe-tongs, and I do notwish too be understood as claiming such devices in themselvesconsidered.The peculiar feature of my improvement consists in the angular shape ofthe loosejaw, which gives a bearing ontwo different points of thecircumference of the cylinder to be grasped, and

the peculiar curve given to the cam-head of wrench, in relation to itscentre onpivot on which the loose jawis hung, which curve is such thatno matter how far the wrench may be open, the point of contact, andpressure of the cam against the face of the pipe or cylinder in itsgrasp shall not only be opposite to both-the faces of the jaw, but shalllie in or near to the right line passing from the pivot of the jawthrough the centre of the cylinder or pipe. By thismeans not only is thepipe or cylinder-held'firmly, but the pressure on the pipe or cylinderbears in'all directions, from the three points of its contact with thewrench towards the centre of the pipe or cylinder. All the force appliedto the wrench operates simply to grasp and hold it, whereas inpipe-wrenches of any ordinary construction, this eflect is produced onlyon a cylindrical body ofia particular diameterto which I the wrench isspecially adapted, while on pipes or cylinders'of either larger orsmaller diameter, the pressure of the head of the wrench not beingproperly directed, has a tendency to crush the pipe, or makesit moreliable to slip away from the wrench as it presses it either inwards oroutwards.

' In the drawing, 6 is the handle of the wrench or tongs, the upper endor head of which is enlarged so as to form a cam, the size of whichdepends on the range or diameter'of pipe which the tongs aredesigned tograsp, and the shape and eccentricity of its curve is regulated ashereinafter described. A hook his jaw, OZ,

which may be made of two pieces riveted together at c, (as seen 'in fig.4,)is pivoted to the neckof the eccentric-' head a at c, as near to thecurved face of the head a as the strength of the material will admit.The inner faces of the jaw orhook'd are two, of which one, 8, may becurved,tand the other, .9, straight. These facess s.

are inclined towards each other, so as to meet and form an angle at t,the most suitable angle being about ninety degrees. The curve of theeccentric-head adepends on the relative position of the pivot c, bywhich the jawd is attached to the head, and the angle t of the hook orjaw; this curve-heing'such that the distance from the pivot c to theextremity a," of the head a is nearly equal to the distance from thepivot c tofthe angle 15 of the jaw, (so as to enable the wrench tograsp'the smallest diameter of pipe or cylinder and the distance fromthe pivot c to the neck a of the wrench-heada is the smallest possible,(so as to enable the wrench to grasp cylinders or pipe o a-diameternearly equal to the distance from c to' t,') and the length oi radiifrom the pivot c to'the circumference of' the eccentric-head a isgradually diminished from c x, the largest radius, to c v, the smallestradius. The effect of such a construction and position of the curvedhead, is, that in whatever position the hook 02 may be placed relativelyto the head a, if a right linebc drawn, (as the dotted line in figs. 1to 3,) from the 'pivot c to the angle tof the hook, such right line(which indicatesthe direction of pressure of the cam-head a on thepipe-or cylinder e held in the grasp of the tongs,) will pass through ornear to the centre of such pipe or cylinder. Usually I slot or bifurcatethe hook 01 throughout nearly-or quite its whole extent, and allow thehead a, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to play in such slot orbifurcation; .or, as shown in the drawing,,I make the hook at of twoparts, d d", (fig'..4,) the parts or halves operating'on opposite sidesof' the head a, and connected therewith, and with each other, by one ormore rivets cand postsa. The working-faces of either hook or head, or ofboth, ma y, and one of them should, be slightly serrated or roughened,so as'to enable the jaws a and d to hold a secure bite or grasp, whenapplied to a smooth cylindrical object for the purposes named.

The devices described ,are very simple of operation. The pipete .tobegturned, or held against turning, encompassed by or' grasped betweenthe head a and jaw d. A firm gripe is secured by a slight backward force-exerted by the handle 6 on the rivet 0, though but little such force,if any, will generally be required. The

tongs should be placed on the pipe e withthe open sideof thejaw d on theside toward which the handle 6 is to be turned in order to turn thepipe, or toward which the force is to be exerted, if it be desired tohold the pipe against turning.

While not limiting myself to the exact shape of the hookid shown iu thedrawing,I find it better, in order 7 to adapt my tongs for use withpipeof different sizes, to make the inner face of the hook d with'one curvedface 8, and one straight-face s, the object being, by the use ofsuch a'jaw and eccentric-head a, to get three bearing-surfaces against the faceof the pipe, each pressiug'tdwards-the centre of the pipe or cylinder,no matter what may be the diameterpf the pipegrasped by thetongs,'as'shown in figs 1 to 3, andsuch construction of hook I'claim asmyinventiom' v I Y If-desirable, the shape of the devices described may.be' varied by making a double or bifurcated head a, and hingiugbetweenits divided halves a single hook, cl. The mode of operation wouldremain the same.

I claim, in addition to the advantages before stated, that my gas-tongsare simpler and cheaper in constructionthan those in ordinary use; alsothat they are lighter and more durable that they areseif-atlju'sting,.and are adapted without alteration and adjustment tobeing used with-pipe of varied sizes, so much so that a single pairoftongs so constructed, will enable a plumber-to joint and unjoint, withequal ease and rapidity,- any and all sizes and diameters of gas-pipe inordinary use. I The tongs described are also useful for catchingcircular bolt-heads, cylindrical rods or bare,'and other similarobjects.

Having described my improvement, what I claim as my invention, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is- The combination of thebifurcated movablejaw d, with the-eccentric cam-head a, at the end ofthe handle of a pipe-wrench, constructed and arranged substantially ashereinbel'ore described.

In testimony whereof, I, the said WILLIAM KENYON, J12, have hereunto setmy hand WILLIAM KENYON, JR,

Witnesses:

R. C. HOFFMAN, R'oBnxr'MARrm.

